After a few noisy and experimental tracks of my own, this is the first ukulele song I'm making public. For some years now I have been developing a repertoire of cover songs on the ukulele - first as a joke, then simply for the pleasure of it. So here's an old song by Quebecois group Octobre, covered very simply, and with a just hint of multitracking.

Forget for a moment that this is a benefit CD to help the family of bassist Hugh Hopper, who died after a devastatingly fast illness. Forget that it’s a limited edition release. The Gift of Purpose is essentially a live album by Bone (Hopper, Doctor Nerve guitarist Nick Didkovsky, and Forever Einstein drummer John Roulat), whose sole other recording is a studio album on Cuneiform. The music here is looser and more improvised than on that disc: inspired jams on thundering riffs like only Hopper could play. This 45-minute live set is complemented by a heartfelt 15-minute homage recorded in the studio by Didkovsky, Roulat, a few members of Doctor Nerve, and Daevid Allen, a long long time cohort of Hopper who delivers, in his own special way, a moving eulogy. Now don’t forget that this is a limited edition release and that every cent you pay for it goes straight to Hopper’s family.

Uz Jsme Doma on Cuneiform? Why not! The venerable Czech band - a halmark of Vaclav Havel’s Purple Revolution, persists with a new studio release - their first in a long time. It has a wonderful level of energy and I honestly prefer it to Usi. Anthemic vocals, beckoning trumpet, leaded virtuoso rhythm section. The punk energy of The Ex and Ne Zhdali, with a heaviness that has Czech Republic written all over it. An excellent opus.[Below: A sound clip from “Droplet”, found on Cuneiform’s website.]

A triple CD set that culls compositions for drones from 1996 to 2009. David First is a peculiar artist. For a long time now, he has been dealing with just intonation drones and microtonal harmonic systems. He writes pieces for synthetic or sampled drones and instrumentalists, the latter’s role being to modulate the drones, to give them life. Privacy Issues features nine such compositions spread across three discs, long tracks with accruing harmonies that play tricks on your ears. Some are contemplative (“Zen Guilt/Zen Blame”), others play on less comfortable musical tensions (“Pipeline Witness Apologies to Dennis,” an impressive 40-minute stretch).

Montreal saxophonist/bass clarinetist Philippe Lauzier (remember his recent duo CD with Pierre-Yves Martel on &records) has just released a trio session on the German label Schraum, with trumpeter Nils Ostendorf and Philip Zoubek on prepared piano. Microsonic free improvisation - virtuoso playing at the microscopic level. Menacing gurgles, strange resonances, a large sound palette developped from within the piano. There is a lot going under the surface of Subsurface, to my enjoyment. A captivating listen. Recommended.[Below: Listen to two tracks from the albumon Schraum’s MySpace.]

Title says it all: an improvisation canvas consisting of 50 miniatures grouped into seven movements. The improvisers: violinist Jennifer Choi, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, bassist Trevor Dunn, drummer Mike Sarin, and of course Erik Friedlander on cello. Atomized jazz, a game highly successful game of fragmentation and unification, a fun and stimulating listen. Intelligent, though not striking. The quality of the performers accounts for most of the final results.

The name rang no bell for me, so I had little expectations about this record - and that probably explains why it pleased me so much. A suite of sound collages made from composed and found elements; a strange, seductive assembly of contemporary music, traditional elements, disembodied singing, and calculated craziness - in other words: post-modernism. Abstract though not gratuitous, and full of surprises.

The second installment in a triptych devoted to solo saxophone music. On Cerberus Reigning (following Cerberus Rising), Jason Robinson focuses on multitracked electroacoustic saxophone composition. Sixteen tracks, several featuring digital treatments and demultiplications. Lots of research integrated to innovative, fun works that can occasionally prove to be majestic. This series had started on good terms, but this second installment gives it unexpected breadth.

American trio Heavy Winged has released a flurry of lo-fi releases, but this CD (also on LP) on Type Records is a very decent studio recording. An improvised rock trio of the sludge persuasion – and nothing boring about them. Two tracks, 20 and 25 minutes, densely-textured jams, though light in content, and powerful. Haunting, hypnotic music that shakes your insides. Makes me think of Kohoutek, Yellow Swans with a drummer, sometimes even Acid Mothers Temple crossed with a post-rock band (say: God Is My Co-Pilot). Different and very enjoyable, as long as you accept to let yourself go.

This name (of a freak show attraction of the early 20th century) hides a new Icelandic band co-led by 16-year-old twins. Precocious talents from these young ladies! Their short (30 minutes) eponymous CD features 11 naive folk songs sung in Icelandic and English. It’s easy to fall for their charming songs, their simple melodies, and the backporch-like sound design of this album.

Charles Gocher died in 2007 and the two surviving members of Sun City Girls (the Bishop brothers) decided to put an end to the adventures of the unique 27-year-old band. Funeral Mariachi shall therefore be the group’s final studio album (and Gocher plays on it). It’s a splendid swan song - the kind of album that might bring them new hordes of fans. More accessible, less all over the place, more melodic and less confrontational, with lots of joyfully strange tracks (“Ben’s Radio,” “This is My Name”) and strangely beautiful tracks (“The Imam,” “Funeral Mariachi,” a cover of Ennio Morricone’s “Come Maddalena”). I had moved away from the Sun City Girls in recent years, but this record urges me to revisit their oeuvre. An important record, moving and heasr perfect.[Below: “Black Orchid” and “The Imam”, two tracks off the album.]

The perfect listen on this Halloween day (beside my usual Legendary Pink Dots, Goblin and Zombie Zombie). Ipsissimus is the fifth release by John Zorn’s Moonchild project. This one is VERY different. First, the trio is now a quintet, with Marc Ribot and Zorn (sax and piano) added to the core trio (Patton/Dunn/Baron). Second, Zorn seems to be blending the Moonchild sound with the Dreamers sound, especially on “The Book of Los.” One track is strongly reminiscent of 5UU’s, others are definitely groovier than usual. And Patton even succeeds in a pastiche of Theo Bleckmann! The speed metal discharge aspect of the music remains, but it is not the group’s main focus anymore. Moonchild’s palette gets wider and considerably more diverse on this record. However, Six Litanies of Heliogabalus it is not.[Below: The track “The Book of Los.”

A superb Swiss quartet with an original instrumentation and a seductive approach. Female vocals, harp, doublebass, and drums. The blend of two female voices and harp brings up favourable comparisons to Tara Fuki. Very nice songs with jazz accents and folk roots, and some very modern twists (like “Lost Feet”). I am won over after one listen. Highly recommended.[Listen to several audio clips on the band’s website (link above, “Music” option).]

A studio free jazz session between tenor/baritone saxman Rodrigo Amado, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, bassist John Hébert and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Fine interplay between Amado and Bynum, the first one more fiery, the second more languid and prone to microtonal slips. Hébert fits in well with the pair, but I am unsure about Cleaver, who sounds too often like the “straight man” on this record. Still, a powerful performance, despite a few overlong passages.

A VERY ambient record by Suns of Arqa who, with the help of bansuri master Raghunath Seth, present “four rarely heard ragas.” Period. These ragas wear very little sonic clothes. Beside the bansuri and tambura, there is only slight synth touches. Slow, quiet, introspective, monotonous - you have ot be into ragas. I was expecting Indian-tinged electro-dub, but the dub and the electro elements are downplayed like never before.

A new opus by Stephen Trower and Ossian Brown, with the participation of the usual suspects (including Thighpaulsandra). Wounded Galaxies Tap at the Window is a VERY ambient work. Listen to it distractedly and it will go by unnoticed. Now, why would I want a Cyclobe record to go by unnoticed? Not sure. The fact is: I’m disappointed. Too monotonous as a background listen, not enough gratifying on close listening.

Luckily, the new Seven That Spells is everything I was hoping for, and then some! What fire, what enjoyment! And what marvelous line in the press blurb: “Seven That Spells has won the spelling bee bycorrectly spelling Kraut with 3 umlauts and 2 Gurus.” I agree, totally. Add in the spirit of You-era Gong, the strike force of Acid Mothers Temple, and Mahavishnu Orchestra’s fire. The saxophonist is completely masd (yes, he makes think of David Jackson), the rhythm section is craz - I’m loving every second of it! And I swear that no-one, in the band or on the sofa, is sleeping during “Death Star Narcolepsy.”[Below: Listen to sound clips on this page from Beta-lactam Ring’s website.]

PAS = Post Abortion Stress, a Brooklyn collective playing ambient experimental music with a video component missing from this CD (though they do have a DVD out). I am impressed by the quality, elegance, and diversity of the short pieces comprising this record. This quartet know what they are doing, without sinking into an oft-repeated recipe. A enjoyable and stimulating listen.[Below: The trio in a live performance.]

A short album (30 minutes) featuring four pieces recorded on three separate occasions. An ultra-noisy duo - we all know Karkowski’s modus operandi: a wall of white noise. Infallibilism is goes straight to the guts. A very powerful record, painful but its interventions attack our feelings and perceptions with surgical precision. Strong stuff.

Thailand is a fertile land when it comes to original music, and the ‘60s and ‘70s featured a particularly flavourful mix of traditional elements and Western influences. The results can be surrealistically exotic or irresistibly kitsch. The Sound of Siam culls a joyful selection of tracks, with very acceptable sound quality compared to similar collections. Expect groovy instrumentals, hip-shaking funks, and otherworldly-sounding songs. A fine set of 19 songs (20 on the 2LP version).

Let’s switch continents: this is a high-octane compilation of thrilling music from a little-known corner of African music geography. There’s something Cuban in this music, something Congolese too, and maybe a touch of Zambia. Convincing: Angola should be added on the map of good ‘70s African music (and before Zambia).